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COLONY BALLADS 



AN ATTEMPT TO REPRESENT SOMETHING OF THE SPIRIT 
AND THE CIRCUMSTANCES ATTENDING THE SEP- 
ARATION OF THE BRITISH COLONIES OF 
MIDDLE NORTH AMERICA FROM 
THEIR MOTHER COUNTRY 



GEORGE L. RAYMOND 






. an 



NEW YORK 

PUBLISHED BY HURD AND HOUGHTON 

CarabrtUje : Eht Hfeersiic Press 

1877 



I'd Ml 

CI 



Copyright, 1876 
By GEORGE L. RAYMOND 



The Riverside Press, Cambridge : 

PRINTED BY H. O. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY. 



CONTENTS. 



_« 

PAGE 

Our First Break with the British . i 

The Last Cruise of the Gaspee .... 18 

The Lebanon Boys in Boston . . . . .34 

The Crown's Fight against the Town's Right . 52 

The Rally of the Farmers 61 

Ethan Allen 69 

How Barton took the General • . . .86 



COLONY BALLADS. 



OUR FIRST BREAK WITH THE BRITISH. 

1765- 

Great Britain's lords in council, 

As all things bore report, 
Had planned, like royal liveries, 
New modes to fit the colonies 

To further serve the court. 

If, brought to form one body, 

The colonies now ally ; 
What comes, to pall their freedom all, 
Will prove, so Franklin thought, too smalL — 

" We join," he wrote, " or die/' 
1 



2 COLONY BALLADS. 

And " Freedom is a birthright 
Our fathers hand us down ; 
Blood-bought/' the lawyer Otis said : 
" One king of old it cost his head ; 
And one his throne and crown. 

" If lost in young New England, 
Old England's, our mishap ! 

We lesser fish that flounder here 

About the outer edges fear 
But nets that all entrap. 

" Our laws are in our charters 
For scores of years enjoyed; 
Nor court, nor king, nor mere consent 
Of merely King and Parliament, 
Has power to make them void. 

" By these, and Magna Charta ; 
By all our Saxon rights ; 
By claims of nature, mind, descent ; 
A protest sent to Parliament 

Should show what now it slights." 



OUR FIRST BREAK WITH THE BRITISH 

The people sent their protest, 
The lords, in naught restrained, 

Tore the laws, to freedom's grief; 

Each sail from England sped, a leaf 
To show that madness reigned. 

Dissolved were our assemblies ; 

Supreme the generals made ; 
Removed the judge our rights decreed ; 
And on the church our fathers freed 

The hands of bishops laid. 

" Our Pilgrim race," preached Mayhew, 

u Were called to liberty ; 
And free, this side the deep, must be 
Though madcaps, chasing, make the sea 

Blood-red with chivalry. 

"The clouds about and waters 

Are His who guides the church ; 
And earth that heeds how Plymouth Rock, 
To whelm the foe, throws back the shock, 
Shall yet our secret search." 



4 COLONY BALLADS. 

" God guide the House of Commons ! " 

We cried, with lifted eyes. 
God guided them and us, alas 
But all our Heaven He scorched to pass 

His finger through the skies. 

The Stamp Act came to test us. 

It laid the lash on each. 
To ship, to wed, to loan, to own, 
Were safe henceforth for him alone 

Whose seal belied his speech. 

" Stamped papers bring but vouchers," 
Wrote Green, " to license knaves." 
i( To tax us," Adams said nor bent, 
" Where none our people represent 
Is but to brand us slaves. 

"Our chartered free assemblies, 
The men we choose and arm 
With power to tax, and pay and stay 
The governor's, general's, judge's sway, 
Alone keep each from harm." 



OUR FIRST BREAK WITH THE BRITISH 

" Alone ! " cried Thomas Chase then, 
" But British agents curse 
To find that our assemblies true 
Find something nobler here to do 
Than fill a noble's purse." 

" And therefore," Hancock added, 

" To plunder yet, prepare 
This law that all their fleet empowers 
To seize each honest ship of ours, 

And wrest a bounty there. 

"Then, freely thus to plunder, 

They force our merchants wronged 
Redress to seek in foreign courts 
From him alone the gold supports 
That once to them belonged. 

"For one my fleet shall carry 
No stamp though all I lose. 
If England take, I hold my soul." 
The people heard, and soon the whole 
Had vowed no stamps to use. 



COLONY BALLADS. 

New York had lived by commerce. 

To sacrifice inspired, 
Her merchants swore no goods to buy, 
No boat to sail, no trade to ply, 

Nor aught a stamp required. 

Said Isaac Sears, their leader, 

"A human lord, to shine, 
His gloss from those about must take. 
A rival stripped alone can make 

Mere decency divine. 

" To gild the edge of title, 

For this is England made 
Our sole resort for all we buy ; 
For this they check the mills we ply. 

For this, our foreign trade. 

"The noble class above us 

Who hold for gold the seive 
Ours oozes through, would not eschew 
Their royal rule — to others do 
What makes them humbly live. 



OUR FIRST BREAK WITH THE BRITISH. 7 

" And shall we not live humbly 

Who only pride restrain ? 
And buy at home more homely goods ? " — 
il Buy homespun ! " rang from bay to woods. 

Then rang the looms amain. 

But keen and crafty tories, 

They prowled around at night ; 
They listened long and bought and sold 
And pried and plied, and some cajoled 

This homespun league to slight. 

"Till stamps shall come from England 

We dare not wait," said Edes. 
" If once a few our tories own, 

The wrong through all the land is sown : 

No hand the danger weeds." 

"Resign the trust!"* cried Boston, 

Her stamp-man's trade to stay. 
The cry, like thunder, threatened storm. 
Wild torches flashed ; the air was warm ; 

The people had their way. 



COLONY BALLADS. 

" Resign ! " ere long the echo 

Through all the land had rolled. 
The sovereign people's arm was bared- 
Through all the land no agent dared 
A hated stamp to hold. 

"Our governors," howled the tories r 
" Shall sell to spell the crown." 

The governors swore the task to take ; 

But we, we swore, our lives the stake, 
To put their purpose down. 

The night before the Stamp Act 
Should take effect, ah me ! 

We slept not much ; we melted lead ; 

We whetted steel ; we planned ahead. 
We Sons of Liberty. 

Then, when the morn was breaking, 

From seashore back to plain, 
In all the towns were tolled the bells 
That all began with doleful knells, 
As though for Freedom slain. 



OUR FIRST BREAK WITH THE BRITISH 

Anon, they rang out madly 

What might appear to be 
The land's alarm-bell — nay not now ; 
They pealed to hail the birth and vow 

Of Sons of Liberty. 

New York sprang wild to hear them. 

Was flooded every way. 
The people left their shops and mills. 
The farmers flocked from all the hills ; 

The sailors from the. bay. 

Now w T ho would buy stamped papers ? 

The governor stood, agaze. 
The stores before were all shut to ; 
Enough of wiser work to do 

On this, a day of days ! 

"We would not, and we will not," 
Said Isaac Sears, " submit." 
The governor cried, "Your drums may beat, 
But here a fort and there a fleet 
They scarcely thus outwit." 



10 COLONY BALLADS. 

" The stamps," said James, his major, 
u A sword should cram them down 
These choking throats, and him that squirms 
The army crush as crush they worms — 
Or burn them out the town." 

"Aha," replied our leader, 

" For this you soldiers came ? 
For this a wily governor 
Sent word abroad the French made war ? 
Aha, were we the game ? 

" Not daring yet to tax us, 
'For this a lawless crown 
Bade British troopers take from hence 
Free meals at every town's expense — 
Your pay to keep us down ? 

"For this to you from England 
Must our ' civilians ' yield ? — 
You Braddock-men who boast but run 
While ours stay back with Washington 
Alone to hold the field ! 



OUR FIRST BREAK WITH THE BRITISH 1 1 

" Yes, yes, in genuine danger 

We know who win the day ; 
Whose treasure here and blood it is 
That, from our fathers' time to this, 

Have held each foe at bay. 

" And need we now your army ? 
You know — your sovereign too, 
Our wars are his that cross the sea, 
Or fret the Frenchmen here that he 
Excuse may find for you. 

" How strong, think you, our patience ? 
How long before it tire ? — 
Ah, Britain's lion's whelp may get 
So tough by cuffs like this, as yet 
To turn and rend its sire ! " 

u Clear treason ! " cried the major ; 

And " treason ! " cried his chief. 
The other's eye their fury brooked, 
Then calmly toward his comrades looked 

To give his thoughts relief. 



12 COLONY BALLADS, 

"There live such royal spirits, 

Their loyalty so great, 
That when to wrong their ruler strays 
The notion of the nation sways, 

The spirit of the state." 

And then he told those courtiers 

Their words should he report. 
They heard the people's groans that rose 
To greet the words he bore, and chose 

To seek, near by, the fort. 

The fort, the crowd surrounded. 
Its guns were at them swung. 
" Now dare to fire you on the town," 

The crowd cried out, " the gates go down, 
The governor find you hung." 

The governor urged his honor ; 

"Had pledged," he said, " his oath, 
And ought to further Britain's aims." — 
We thought New York had equal claims 

On oath and honor both. 



V 




OUR FIRST BREAK WITH THE BRITISH. 1 3 

"And let his pledge be given 
He let the stamps alone," 
Said Isaac Sears ; and all the crowd 
Who heard him say it, shouted loud 
To make the words their own. 

All day, with waning patience, 

That pledge was waited for ; 
But, when there came an answer none, 
No man could check a course begun 

To force the governor. 

At night, the boys with torches, 

They started out for sport. 
The house of James they sacked, and took 
The army's flags his fear forsook, 

And marched them round the fort. 

The governor owned his coaches, 
His sleighs, and horses trained. 
They burst the barn before his eyes, 
And dragged away with heartless cries 
bThe treasure there contained. 



14 COLONY BALLADS. 

They framed a devil's image, 

The governor's image too ; 
And, side by side, made both careen, 
Wheeled round and round the Bowling Green 

Where fort and fleet could view. 

At last, of sleighs and coaches 

They formed a funeral pyre ; 
And, full in face of all the town, 
Who only roared its roar to drown, 

They set the whole on fire. 

Then came a wake and wailing, 

As ashes covered all ; 
And not a clause in laws unjust 
The governor hoped on us to thrust 

But some one clared recall. 

" A foe to all of England ! " 

"A foe to all of us!" 
" In Scotland went with Jacobites ! " 
" Has vowed to murder here our rights ! — 

Ere that we toast him thus!" 



OUR FIRST BREAK WITH THE BRITISH. 1 5 

Then met the colony's council 

To vote what questioned none : — 
" Those stamps Great Britain's crown assigned 

To agents here who all resigned; 
None made the governor one." 

At last the governor wavered; 
He wrote an answer thus : — 
16 1 wait the dawn of further light." 
Cried Isaac Sears, " the fox is bright. 
Morn makes him free from us. 

" Now send we back this message : — 
' Awhile the town will wait 
But four and twenty hours from now 
Will hold the stamps or else will vow 
To hold no more debate.' " 

The governor begged the army ; 

The army begged the fleet, 
But no one cared to free the fort 
Of papers borne to brave the sport 

Of those who filled the street. 



1 6 COLONY BALLADS, 

The courage there of courtiers, 
It bowed to wisdom higher : 

The power of right that ruled the mass, 

It overawed the royal class; 
They did not dare to fire. 

They did not dare to kindle 

The flames of war, to fling 
No light of glory round a throne 
Where British freemen flushed alone 

To blush for Britain's King. 

So nought was left the loyal 

Except to yield us all. 
Our mayor took the stamps resigned, 
And bore away to store behind 

The bolts of City Hall. 

And, all relieved, the people, 

They cheered that right was done ; 

Cried " Liberty and Property ! 

No stamps to curse the Colony ! " 
And parted, one by one. 



OUR FIRST BREAK WITH THE BRITISH. 1 7 

At morning, all the papers 

Were published stamps without. 
Men trusted not to notes but men. 
The boats in harbor sailed again ; 

Their foes were moored in doubt. 

And none a stamp had purchased, 

Or sealed himself a slave ; 
And half of England, trust my word, 
Were thrilled with joy, when proud they heard 

How we ourselves could save. 

At last there came a daybreak 

When all the thankful kneeled ; 
And bells were rung, and banners hung; 
And England's weal was drunk and sung, — 

The Stamp Act stood repealed. 

Great Britain's lords in council 

Had talked of fire and ball; 
But, when they touched their liberties, 
Met manhood in the colonies 

They could not thus inthrall. 



THE LAST CRUISE OF THE GASPEE. 

1772. 

One windy day in March, 
A ghost that brought dismay, 
A vessel fleet, through snow and sleet, 
Made Narraganset Bay. 

There were smugglers in the bay, 
And smugglers on the shore ; 
But loyal still to royal will 
Ten times their number more. 

But the captain railed at all, 
His boasts afloat his ale ; 
" Rhode Island low is full, you know, 
Of fellows fled from jail ; 



THE LAST CRUISE OF THE GASPEE. 1 9 

"And Puritans fled from law, 
From kings they fear to fear. 
Aha ! " he laughed, " our loyal craft 
Has brought the Cavalier ! 

"Our guns shall speak in tones 
To make the whole bay ring ; 
And teach to each within their reach 
To reverence here the King. 

" Upon the sea are ships : 
On bounties bound to fall, 
Their sails we rip till flags they dip 
To heed our royal call. 

" Upon the shore are sheep ; 
Beside the sheep is wood : 
Sure, fealty nice should sacrifice 
To yield its navy food. 

Some lawless were at sea; 
Some lawless were on shore ; 
This ship, I ken, a band of men 
Ten times as lawless bore. 



20 COLONY BALLADS. 

The sheriff went and warned 
The captain, angered sore, 
By claims polite and chartered right, 
To plunder there no more. 

The captain waved his hand, 
Said he, " The fleet has made 
A vow devout to carry out 
The English Acts of Trade." 

Wrote Hopkins then from court, 
"No warrant, none have you." 
"The navy's crew injustice do," 
Wrote Governor Wanton too. 

The captain dodged reply ; 
"Let Boston urge his plea: 
Not their affair ; the admiral there 
His ship should oversee." 

And then he turned away. 
One heard him mutter near, 
" The admiralty, I think I see, 

Ship back their bounties here." 



THE LAST CRUISE OF THE GASPEE. 21 

But yet the wronged ones wrote. 
The admiral there was bold. 
He swore to hang the Island gang, 
And^ teach them who controlled. 

And more, the man forgot, 
An English soldier he, 
To honor those the people chose 
In a colony just and free. 

" The navy know their trade," 
He rash to Wanton wrote ; 
" In mere pretense and insolence 

You board the Sovereign's boat." 

Wrote Wanton, " Those at home, 
Your lords, shall judge your note. 
And every time it hint of crime, 
Our sheriff boards the boat." 

But months and months went on. 
The cruiser fired away. 
None plied an oar; lived near the shore, 
But feared to be its prey. 



22 COLONY BALLADS. 

Cried Captain Lindsey bold, 
" An outrage none should bide ! 
Rhode Island grit must yet outwit, 
And trip the rascal's pride. 

" He knows my Packet here, 
Her trade, as well as I. 
Now let him dare to sink me there, 
His guns shall I defy. 

" If down we go, the law, 
It floats to stand upon ; 
If that go too, this case is through ; 
But Britain, more anon ! " 

So high his flag he flew ; 
And wide his sail he spread. 
The cruiser fired; her men perspired; 
Her captain's face was red. 

".AH hands aloft!" he cried; 
" All sail ! " and, while they strove, 
Both ships, away in clouds of spray, 
Like squalls the waters clove. 



THE LAST CRUISE OF THE GASPEE. 2$ 

When off of Nauquit Point, 
Shrewd Lindsey knew his ground ; 
Afar he steered, the bar he cleared, 
And then the ship swung round. 

Up tossed her canvas high ; 
Then dipped, as round it ran, 
A saucy way that seemed to say 
Now catch me if you can. 

The cruiser's captain saw ; 
And mouthed an awful oath : 
"Now catch I not, then fire and shot 
Or bottom catch, us both. 

? Straight on, nor tack ! " he cried ; 
" Straight on ! the bar is spare ; 
The tide is high ; across we fly, 
And head them off, up there." 

Deep plowed the cruiser's prow 
The broken waves below, 
So bows a bull whose pride is full 
To toss a stubborn foe. 



24 COLONY BALLADS. 

She plunged and reeled and rolled. 
Ah better had she tacked ! 
The sea, it flew the bulwark through. 
The mainmast swayed and cracked. 

The wind, it whistled there ; 
The boatswain whistled here. 
The captain swore ; the mainsail tore ; 
The jib had ripped its gear. 

A flood had forced the deck. 
The crew were floundering round. 
Then, clean and chill, the whole was still ; 
The cruiser fast aground. 

When Lindsey saw, such cheers 
Went back from all his men, 
The hostile crew, that heard them, flew 
To man their guns again. 

But Lindsey kept his course. 
He here could do no more; 
And, ; ere the night, the cruiser's plight 
Had told along the shore. 



THE LAST CRUISE OF THE GASPEE. 2$ 

" There stays the ship, 5 ' said he, 
" Till comes, anon, high tide. " 
"Till Providence shall lift her thence," 
John Brown, his friend, replied. 

And Providence, at dusk, 
Was rallied out to greet 
Its Daniel Pearce who rattled fierce 
His drum along the street. 

" The cruiser lies aground ! 

High tide at three o'clock! 
Who care to go and meet her so, 
Come all to Fenner's dock ! " 

The people flocked, and lo, 
In Captain Whipple's care, 
Eight boats of Brown who roused the town 
And sent the sailors there. 

Each boat a captain steered ; 
And muffled every oar; 
And, when they bent, the men who went, 
All told, were sixty-four. 



26 COLONY BALLADS. 

Their arms were culled with care 
From all their friends could loan ; 
And all the yawls, for cannon balls, 
Were stocked with paving-stone. 

They battled wind and tide, 
Three hours amid the gloom. 
The midnight passed. They saw, at last, 
The hated bulwarks loom. 

" Who comes ? " the watch called out. 
" Who comes ? " the captain cried. 
Then swift alarmed, in tones that armed, 
The crew that toward him hied. 

"Move off!" the captain roared, 

His pistol aiming well ; 
Then fired — — alack ! fire answered back ; 

He started, staggered, fell. 

Then, deathly dark and fierce 
As tidal waves, where fleets 
Are whelmed and whirled and downward 
hurled 
Till the earthquake there retreats. 



THE LAST CRUISE OF THE GAS PEE. 2J 

Our men, at Whipple's cry, 
" Up, up ! " cleared every check ; 
And dashed and leapt and slashed and swept 
Across the cruiser's deck. 

Their men were all below; 
And ours on deck alone ; 
Clean work had done, nor fired a gun, 
The foe before them flown. 

" Surrender here ! " rang out ; 

And out the "cabin glanced 
At first a few, then all the crew ; 

Then one and all advanced. 

"First know/ 1 said Whipple then, 
" That here you sail no more ; 
And next prepare your boats to bear 
Yourselves and yours ashore." 

The sailors went and came, 
They came with bags and coats. 
They called their roll, and said the whole 
They owned was in the boats. 



28 COLONY BALLADS. 

Meantime, the captain's wound 
The men who made had dressed ; 
And rowed him, sore but safe, ashore 
With all his trunks possessed. 

u All hands embark ! " rang out ; 

And all the yawls were full ; 
Save one for those the work to close, 
While off the rest should pull. 

Three cheers anon bespoke 
The vessel's farewell trip, 
When, white as spray the former day, 
Thin smoke made dim the ship. 

Then seldom off her track 
So fast had flown a crew, 
While flashed the fire, and, streaming higher, 
The red flag redder flew. 

The cruiser sailed in state ; 
Once more her swivel plied ; 
Then powder, ball, and hull and all 
The thunder's self defied. 



THE LAST CRUISE OF THE GASPEE. 29 

High filled the heaven above. 
Her ghost was not for heaven : 
Each wounded cloud roared long and loud ; 
Then back the whole was driven. 

When all was still, there seemed 
Faint sparks to fill the place — 
" Nay, nay/' said one, " the morning sun ; 
A new day dawns apace ! " 

It dawned for these, at least ; 
When soon there hove in sight 
Full half the town who crowded down 
To cheer their deed that night. 

But list! the cheers were checked. 
li Keep mum ! " the murmur spread ; 
The government sought those who went, 
A price on every head. 

" Five hundred dollars down, 

For him who tells of one," 
Was first proclaimed : but no one named 

A man who aught had done. 



30 COLONY BALLADS. 

"Five thousand," offered then, 
" To know who took the lead ; 
And half as much to know of such 
As joined him in the deed." 

The King's commission, last, 
Sat half a year or more ; 
But not a word they ever heard 
Of all the sixty-four. 

Forgotten were they then ? 
They might have passed, by day, 
Without a wink to make you think, 
Or hint that it was they. 

But, when the night had come ; 
When every door was locked ; 
The shutters fast, and blew the blast 
Till all the chimney rocked ; 

When, safe from eyes and ears, 
In homes where all were true, 
The way those men were feasted then 
A king, full well, might rue. 



THE LAST CRUISE OF THE GAS PEE, 3 1 

And when the board was bare ; 
When, round the roaring fire, 
The nuts were cracked, and cider smacked 
Till tooth and tongue would tire ; 

When each his tale would tell 
About that ship and night," 
And still the way he dodged to-day 
The British spy and spite ; 

The boys that husked the corn 
Would bend, anon to spring 
And draw the ears, like swords, with cheers 
To make the rafters ring ! 

The host who stirred the fire 
Would stab till cinders flew I 
You well had thought the flames he brought 
The cruiser's would outdo ! 

The girls, where dashed the blaze 
Like spray a ship concealed 
Along the walls, would aim like balls 
The apples red they peeled J 



32 COLONY BALLADS. 

" To arms ! " would cry the men ; 

Then spry their prey purloin ; 
While mother's yarn would snap to darn 
The dance that all would join. 

Ah, so we hushed the tale ! 
Yet spies that sly would roam 
Could not decoy the smallest boy 
To tell what passed at home. 

We hushed the tale, yes, yes, 
Till proof made all believe 
That all with nerve the weak to serve 
Applause from all receive. 

We hushed it, till the hush 
Became our countersign 
To save from those we knew were foes, 
And make our men combine. 

We hushed it, till we learned 
What thousands would be free, 
And longed to know which way to go 
To gain their liberty. 



THE LAST CRUISE OF THE GASPEE. 33 

We hushed it, till we heard 
The guns at Lexington ; 
Then shouted loud, a mighty crowd, 
11 Our heroes lead us on I " 
2* 



THE LEBANON BOYS IN BOSTON. 

The Tea Party, December 16, 1773. 

"New trouble down in Boston," 
Was told us half the year; 
Yet every week the postman came 
With something new to hear. 

" Alas," they wrote, " that freedom's right 

Should life so hale beget 
That lords its envied strength should drain 

With sword and bayonet. 
Like leeches, cling the frigates 

About our wasted port ; 
The wharves inflamed with soldiers ; 

An open sore the fort. 



THE LEBANON BOYS IN BOSTON 3 5 

A foreign Board of Customs, 

Our courts cannot restrain, 
Like vultures, where a scent of death, 

Their living come to gain. 
Of old, when all stood up for rights, 

The Stamp Act was repealed; 
We stooped to thank the Sovereign then, 

He thinks we now will yield." 

We read, and thought together 
That something must be done ; 

And we the ones to do it, 
We boys of Lebanon. 

The words of Samuel Adams 

We heard a neighbor quote : — 
"They silence our assembly. 

A sword is on its throat. 
Our charter made a target, 

Our judgment-seat a fort, 
Our men they rob for rations ; 

Our boys they shoot for sport. 
Our faith that their horizons burst 

And zeniths held not down, 



36 COLONY BALLADS. 

They ring with Acts to Tolerate, 
And bring a crippling crown. 

I care not what to others 
A loyal feeling brings ; 

To me it still shall loyal be 
To serve the King of Kings." 

We heard, and swore together 
That work must be begun ; 

And we the ones to do it, 
We boys of Lebanon. 

We signed a pledge of union. 

To all the land we wrote. 
We went to meet the postman. 

We read the Boston note : — 
" In union only is there strength ; 

And strength our only stay. 
Alas that some divide us ; 

Alas that some give way. 
All trade with Britain broke we off ; . 

But now the weak agree ; 
1 Enough,' they say, ■ if none will taste, 

If none will trade with tea.' 



THE LEBANON BO YS IN BOSTON 3 7 

"Who lie in wait the weakness spy. 

They try to trap it thus : — 
c East India's losing traders 
Shall tea bring free ' to us. 
As though their thriving did not heap 
Her lap with tribute gold, 
' Let them,' cries England, ' take the tax ; 
Let them the duties hold.' 

" Already bound for Boston, 

May tea be on the waves, 
A bait flung out to tempt us 

To touch, and then be slaves. 
And if the strong should falter, 

Nor snatch the bait away, 
What keeps the weak from craft that makes 

The whole land England's prey ? 
What keeps temptation from the men 

By habits old unnerved ? 
What principle restrain them 

Who reason never served ? — 



" And yet, this plot to parry, 
If Boston men conspire, 



38 COLONY BALLADS. 

Their town may prove an altar ; 

Their fortunes melt in fire. 
The sacrifice is ready ; 

Yet first they wait reply, 
To know they own a country 

To save, before they die." 

We met, and swore together, 
If fighting must be done, 

In Boston we would do it, 
We boys of Lebanon. 

We started out at midnight. 

We got the Indian suits, 
We kept for sport or safety 

When red men raised recruits. 
We packed them all in knapsacks. 

The girls our kisses dealt ; 
Flung guns on every shoulder, 

And tomahawks in belt. 
We crept along the forest. 

We dropped the ledges down. 
We scattered near to Boston. 

W r e met within the town. 



THE LEBANON BOYS IN BOSTON. 39 

We hunted out our cousins. 
We told them why we came. 
" Aha," said they, " we plot the same. 
We join you in the game." 

They showed us then, at morning, 

The Tree of Liberty, 
Where those who planned the Stamp Act 

Were hung in effigy. 
A pole was now beside it. 

A flag it bore flew high. 
The church bells all were ringing. 

A crowd had gathered nigh. 

"To see this tree, the agent 

Of stamps," we heard, " resigned. 
Here too East India's agents 

Should learn the people's mind: — 
'All tea that comes from England, 

Untouched to England goes ; 
Or brand we these, its consignees, 

Our own, our country's foes.' " 
The people cheered the purpose. 

The resolution passed. 



40 COLONY BALLADS. 

The crowd about went homeward. 
The sky was overcast. 

The message reached the agents. 

No promise would they sign. 
Again the town demanded one. 

Again did all decline. 
Then Boston's grand Committee 

Of Correspondence, said 
" We write to all the province ; " 

And fast the riders sped. , 

From every hill and valley 

Came back, as though one word, 
What Samuel Adams read with pride 

Where all the people heard : — 
"Without a voice dissenting, 

We swear by you to stand. 
Our wealth or life preventing, 

The tea shall never land." 

Then dawned the stirring Sunday 
When swift the news was passed, 

One tea-ship off the harbor ! " — 
The crisis came, at last. 



THE LEBANON BOYS IN BOSTON 4 1 

Not many went to church then ; 

But all began to pray, 
With eyes to duty open wide — 

The Puritanic way. 

In haste we met together, 

Our work must be begun. 
We planned how best to do it, 

We boys of Lebanon. 
With Proctor named as captain, 

We formed, as soldiers free, 
To cling like air and water there 

About the ship with tea. 

The Town's Select Men waited on 

The vessel's consignees ; 
But these the fort had waited on, 

Well locked with British keys. 
True courtiers, they would tender 

The governor there their tea. 
The governor called his councillors, 

The council said, " Not we ; 
Our homes are with the people; 

And we are not the ones 



42 COLONY BALLADS. 

To hold the cup that Freedom drugs 
To them, ourselves, or sons." 

The consignees still waited there 

While they the tea controlled ; 
The ship, in form, once entered, 

The harbor's laws must hold. 
So quick the Town's Committee, 

With close at hand a writ, 
They sealed the vessel's owner's word 

Not yet to enter it. 

At Fanueil Hall, next morning, 

To answer bells that rung, 
Men swarmed, like bees, to buzz before, 

Prepared to die, they stung. 
The governor's sheriff waved his staff: — 

" You meet unlawfully ! " 
The staff but made them busier buzz, 

With Saxon loyalty. 
The consignees they summoned. 

"The tea," these wrote, " we stack." 
" The tea you ship to England," 

The people answered back. 



THE LEBANON BOYS IN BOSTON 43 

And then to ports in England, 

And all at home they wrote : — 
" Tea taxers here, or traders, 

Our country's foes we vote. 
Think not our men will waver, 

Our wives their vows abate; 
If bitter keep the herb they steep, 

More bitter still their hate." 

Two tea ships more had anchored. 

Our guards, like nerves, were strung 
From bay to every belfry's rope, 

The slightest stir had sprung. 

Then spake the vessels' owners : — 

" Our cargoes, entered not, 
In twenty days, the law will take ; 

The fleet their fate allot." 
ri Ere that you sail from Boston," 

The Town's Committee said. 
" Nay, nay, ere that," was answered back, 

" In Boston blood were shed." 
They pointed down the harbor. 

Behold, the fleet below, 



44 ' COLONY BALLADS. 

Like prongs along the channel, 

To rake a coming foe ! 
They pointed toward the castle. 

The flash of every gun 
Bespoke an aim to pierce with flame 

A prey that dared to run ! 

No hope for writs of clearance, 

No hope in flight, they showed. 
Thus checked, the people's purpose rose 

To bounds that overflowed. 
Collector and comptroller, 

With solemn pleas they sought \ 
The governor then, exulting 

To think his trap had caught. 
a You mark the fleet and castle, 

Should trouble brew," said he, 
"Your Hancocks, Rowes, and Phillips 

Might risk as much as we." 

But Molineux said only, 

" They more would risk if slaves ; 
Then, what were treasured most, would be 

Enough to give them graves." 






THE LEBANON BOYS IN BOSTON. 45 

" Of slaves," the governor answered, 

And glowed about the phrase ; 
" Of slaves because a land has laws ! " 

And passed the laws to praise ; 
" And you would dare to break them ? — 

And reason, what of it ? — 
I trust in human nature, 

When reason says, submit." 

"We trust in human nature," 

Said Young, who near him stood ; 
" And peace, where thrives oppression, 

It does not deem a good. 
We trust in human nature ; 

The conscience, governing there, 
The right may guard as well as kings 

With crowns their dearest care. 
Love rules in human nature, 

For, all of history through, 
The slaves have been the many, 

The tyrants been the few." 

The governor turned in anger ; 
"Well, well, we then shall see. 



46 COLONY BALLADS. 

Your hint of flint can frighten 
No clearance here from me." 



Still met the town together, 

Their final vote to take.. 
Not one, of seven thousand there, 

Had wish the peace to break. 
Said Quincy, " Crowds and shoutings 

Not now can end the strife. 
Come other crowds, and other shouts ; 

And go estate and life. 
The structures fair of freedom 

Men rear beneath the sky, 
Press down on deep foundations, 

Where thousands buried lie. 
Our course we well may ponder : 

A bow may span the cloud, 
But hope's first march beneath the arch 

Meet flash and bolt and shroud." 
The people paused and pondered ; 

But, when they called for hands, 
Not one of all but voted, 

The tea, it never lands. 



THE LEBANON BOYS IN BOSTON 47 

And then we met together ; 

If fighting must be done, 
Our time had come to do it, 

We boys of Lebanon. 
Another morn the vessels 

The fleet and fort would hold ; 
Then, who could say what power could stay 

The tea from being sold. 

Close by we sought our quarters. 

We cleared our knapsacks quick. 
We donned our Indian guises. 

We stained our cheeks with brick. 
Anon, we all were ready; 

Half, tomahawks in hand ; 
And half, with muskets only, 

We heard our last command. 

A moment then we waited. 

We knew the danger there. 
We looked above for courage. 

We bent below in prayer. 
We swore by God in Heaven, 

Our names to keep from all. 



48 COLONY BALLADS. 

We swore to stand together, 
Till death should doom to fall. 

We swore, by truth and honor, 
Should half essay to flee, 

To cast that half the harbor in 
To perish with the tea. 

The twilight long had tarried. 

The darkness deeper grew. 
In old South Church, the people 

Still pondered what to do. 
The dimness vailed our coming. 

We listened near the door, 
Till Adams said, "For freedom fled, 

We here can do no more.'' 
And then we yelled together, 

" To Griffin's wharf come on ! " 
All ready we to do the rest, 

We boys of Lebanon. 

Then off flew some as sentries 
To stand and sound alarms, 

Should coming spies or soldiers 
Compel resort to arms. 



THE LEBANON BOYS IN BOSTON 49 

The twilight long had tarried. 
The darkness deeper grew ; 
€i Full time," said we, " to take our tea ! " 
The people thought 'so too. 

To Griffin's wharf we led them. 

We rowed, and reached the ships. 
No captain there, nor sailor, 

Dared open once his lips. 
We crowded every gangway. 

We brought out every chest ; 
Tore every wrap to guard the tea, 

And steeped the bay our best. 
No time was there for shouting, 

No wish was there for strife. 
Three hours we wrought in silence, 

Each thankful more for life. 
Anon, the work was ended ; 

Anon, we back could row, 
The heaven was black above us ; 

The harbor black below. 

None thought on shore to cheer us, 
Though all had waited there. 
3 



50 COLONY BALLADS. 

Their silence seemed the silence, 

Where souls have flown to prayer. 
Their silence seemed the silence 

Of war's reserves, where breath 
Is hushed to hear the order, 

To call, they fear, to death. 
Their silence seemed the silence 

Of heavens, close and warm, 
Ere, like a shell that houses hell, 

They burst to free the storm. 

As hushed as on a Sabbath, 

The people homeward went ; 
Their eyes alone transparent 

To show the souPs content. 
But we, we met together, 

When all the work was done, 
To toast the dawn of freedom, 

We boys of Lebanon. 

Then, early stirred at morning, 

We left with Paul Revere, 
Who through the South went riding off 

To bear, from Boston, cheer. 



THE LEBANON BOYS IN BOSTON. 5 I 

We spread through all the country. 

We told, how all was done ; 
Till all the shoremen stored away 

A tomahawk and gun. 
Throughout the land, no tory 

Would brave their sworn attack. 
East India found no agent. 

The tea that came went back. 

But, better far for freedom, 

There flew, from mouth to mouth, 
From soul to soul, a tide to roll, 

And sweep from North to South. 
The source was patriotic ; 

It flowed to flood the land. 
No colony held its borders ; 

No jealousy could withstand. 
Before, men talked of union ; 

But now was union won, 
When all the land, on every hand, 

Held boys of Lebanon. 



THE CROWN'S FIGHT AGAINST THE 
TOWN'S RIGHT. 

Lexington, April 19, 1775. 

U A galloping horse is coming 

Across the field ! — do you mark ? " — 
We woke and flew to the window. 
We peered away in the dark. 

The night, a cloud about us, 

It bore a bolt to fear. 
What flashed and clashed ? — who brought it ? — 
"I, I ! " cried Paul Revere. 



" The British are off for Concord 
To seize the colony's arms ! 
And Dawes and I the river 

Stole over, and over the farms." 



CRO WN'S FIGHT A GAINST TO WN'S RIGHT 5 3 

" But wait you, Paul, a moment ; 
A guide shall ride below. 
Below you cross the forest ; 
Nor plain the way to know. " 

" Quick, quick ! " cried Paul, " about us 
Shine eyes, like owls at night. 
Like stars that bar the darkness, 
The whole to cage in light." 

Yet wait you, Paul, and waiting 
How, say, does Boston fare ? " — 
" Alas," he sighed, " no saying 

How many shall breakfast there. 

" Ever since the Port Bill lowered 
The flags of all its fleet, 
The town had starved, if others 
Had spared it nothing to eat. 

" Are strung their forts to fasten 
A chain about Boston Neck ; 
Is strung the bay with frigates, 
All trade to dog and check. 



54 COLONY BALLADS, 

" Like fate shall doom the city 
Till all yield up, they say, 
Free meetings, courts, and charters, 
All rights they wrest away. 

"And yield that all the ardent 
Who dare the truth to tell, 
They bear away to Britain ; 
They find a felon's cell. 

" And those who called our Congress, 
They swear to take to-day. — 
High time to rouse the country ! 
High time to save the prey ! M 

" Off, off ! " we cried, and parted. 

Then dragged from under the hay 
The guns, manure had mantled 
When borne from Boston Bay. 

Our wives poured out the powder 
From pockets and tucks they ripped ; 

And cartridges too, from Boston 
In candle boxes shipped. 






CRO WN'S FIGHT A GAINST TO WN 'S RIGHT 5 5 

With God we left the women ; 

The hill had hardly won, 
When wild the bell rang telling 

Of Paul in Lexington. 

At midnight, saw he Charlestown. 

Not two had struck the clock : 
That trembling church and belfry, 

Had rallied all its flock. 

They sought the green together ; 

Set guards on every road ; 
Then sought the inn to measure 

The fate they might forbode. 

Ten times their band in number 
Were foes they watched before ; 

And here should they withstand them, 
Or fly to join with more. 

" Stand here ! " said Jonas Parker • 
" The law, it armed the town." 

" And here, " said Clark, their pastor, 
" Be right and shame the crown. 



56 COLONY BALLADS. 

" What though their guns, in thunder, 
Arouse a rain of blood ? — 
Their echoes yet may yonder 

Proclaim how comes the flood. , 

" If crowd there then to Concord 
The men to save the stores, 
Our limbs, though red and falling, 
Were ripe to all their cores. 

" Are times of war, when cannon 
Are clogged by only rills ; 
Our blood may check the Briton, 
More check the more he spills. 

" Are times that twigs, though buried, 
Have snared an avalanche so ; 
How blest our lives if ended 
Where tyranny shared our woe. 

" We are few ; yet view a witness, — 
The church, from Heaven on high, • 
How right may move to triumph 
With only one — to die ! " 



CRO WN'S FIGHT A GAINST TO WiV'S RIGHT 5 7 

He paused — the door flew open. 
All heard a watch call out : — 
11 Full drive a horseman coming ! 
May come an English scout ! " 

And out they flew to face him ; 

But not too quick to meet 
No enemy, only a neighbor, 

There galloping up the street. 

" The foe are come ! " he stammered ; 
" They capture all they meet. 
I dodged a man and musket. 

And hark ! — you hear their feet ! " 

We hearkened ; and heard, behind him, 
A tramp that well might scare ; 

It crushed the brain of moisture ; 
It clotted the lungs with air. 

It chilled the heart that shivered 

A load of fear to bear ; 
Till duty sprang indignant 

To drum to courage there. 
3* 



58 COLONY BALLADS. 

" Sound drums and guns ! " said Parker, 
" And bell ! If these but halt, 
Where time is all we plan for, 
We win though none assault. " 

They halted, then drew nearer. — 
What need of halting more ? — 

They came, of old an army ; 
We never had fought before. 

We stood but sixty farmers, 

Those homes and wives between, 

Whose hands, up waved or wringing, 
Seemed fringing all that green. 

" Be theirs the blame ! " said Parker, 
"Fire not, till fire is sent. 
Stand firm ; God's House behind us, 
And Heaven when balls are spent. " 

Athwart the gray of morning, 
None knew how large a force 

Came crowding across the common, 
With cries and orders hoarse. 



CRO WN'S FIGHT A GAINST TO WN'S RIGHT 5 9 

At double quick, and onward, 
With bayonets fixed, they came ; 

Deep, wide and wild about us, 
As red they burst as flame. 

Before them rode their leader, 
Our steadfast front to curse. 
" Lay down those arms ! " he shouted, 
" You villains, all disperse ! " 

But, true to law and country, 
Scarce one his musket dropped. 

The foe before us faltered, 

Broke up, moved slower, stopped. 

" You rebels ! " roared the leader, 
While up his pistol came ; 
A hint his minions welcomed ; 
We saw them all take aim. 

We saw, but all had waited, 

When u Fire ! " their leader cried ; 

And shot, and howled, " Surround them ! " 
And round us spurred to ride. 



60 COLONY BALLADS. 

A flash ! — alas the lawless ! — 
Up surged the fiery flood ; 

All overwhelmed, our brothers 

Were sinking, drenched with blood. 

" Serve right before the Briton ! " 
Cried Parker's soul that sped ; 
And scores, it seemed, were wounded ; 
And half we feared were dead. 

" Away ! " a voice repeated, 
" Away while yet you may. 
To stay were now but murder ! 
To wall and fence away ! " 

Off sped we then to pick them, 

Like Indians, one by one, 
But walls, in smoke between us, 

The foe were wise to shun. 

They cheered and left for Concord. 

Our wounded home we bore ; 
And then we vowed, in Concord 

To meet the foe once more. 



THE RALLY OF THE FARMERS. 

Concord, April 19, 1775. 

The Concord men had warning. 

They all, through half the night, 
Like ants along the meadows, 

Had dragged the stores from sight. 

And, days before the march came, 

Our Salem Congress too, 
They knew the arms were menaced, 

And here had left but few. 

And here flew men till morning 
Rolled up, with tides of light, 

A surf of bayonets, flashing, 
To drive the town to flight, 



62 COLONY BALLADS. 

Then sought they heights that Heaven 
Made bright, and not the foe ; 

Whence breezes borne were sweeter 
Than war notes blown below. 

There farmers, roused in Bedford, 

In Littleton and Carlisle, 
In Westford, Lincoln, Chelmsford, 

Flocked in, through each defile. 

And there, when came a rumor 
How Lexington men had fared, 

No lion loose a vengeance 

More bold then theirs had dared. 

Anon, they watched the Briton 

About their village rave, 
Of flour full sixty barrels 

Tear open, stave from stave. 

They saw him spike their cannon, 
Pave all their pond with balls, 

And wheels pile up and wagons 
To block the ways like . walls. 



THE RALLY OF THE FARMERS. 63 

They saw a foe that feared it 

Their liberty-pole cut down ; 
Then burn with all the pile there 

That yet might burn the town. 

The flames had caught the court-house. 

Our men were hard to stay. 
But " Justice, " cried our leader, 

" Will house in Heaven to-day. 

"We wait, till here divided 

They drift, our arms to take ; 
Or flood, like waves, their columns ; 
Where waits this ridge, they break ! " 

Just then, by both the bridges 

The foe a force had placed ; 
A check to ours beyond them, 

While further stores they traced ; 

A check to men who viewed it, 
While maids and mothers turned 

To fly from houses plundered, 

When sacked, it might be, burned. 



64 COLONY BALLADS. 

" The north bridge," argued Hosmer ; 

" On, on, keep back the foe ! " 
"No man of mine from Acton," 

Said Davis, " fears to go." 

And then our leader Barrett 
The word to follow gave, 

Where moved the men of Acton 
Behind their captain brave. 

With arms beside them trailing, 
In double file and slow, 

Naught flaunted but undaunted, 
These farmers faced their foe. 

The British rushed to ruin 
The bridge, and then retire. 
"Let stay!" cried Major Buttrick. 
They answered but to fire. 

Dead Davis fell, and Hosmer. 
"For God's sake," Buttrick cried, 
" Fire, fire ! " — and three fell dying 
Upon the British side. 






THE RALLY OF THE FARMERS. 6$ 

Thus Heaven, where hung the impulse 

A grander man to mould, 
Had Saxon hurled on Saxon, 

The new world on the old. 

The British swift retreated. 

Their colonel, where they sped, 
First marched to reinforce them ; 

Then all for Boston led. 

But now were men from Reading 

And Sudbury marshaled out, 
And Woburn, wild to flank them : 

Their march became a rout. 

We had but half their number ; 

But made so dangerous, 
Those Red-coats journeyed safer 

With Spanish bulls than us. 

With guards at every turning, 
They covered well their flanks ; 

But smoke that leapt from ambush 
Shot, ghost-like, through their ranks. 



66 COLONY BALLADS. 

From Dedham, Essex, Danvers, 
From Chelsea, Marblehead, 

From Dorchester, from Brookline, 
Our men to trap them sped. 

Back slunk their line before us, 
A weary, wounded snake : 

Up hill, down dale, round river, 
It dragged, with bleeding wake. 

The whole reserve in Boston 
Poured out to help them back ; 

But all the trees and houses 

Seemed haunting now their track. 

They turned to shoot our mothers ; 

They turned our babes to kill ; 
Our vengeance raged at Cambridge, 

And reigned at Prospect Hill. 

Down sweeping, Heath and Warren 
A charge to break them led ; 

Then Pickering's men from Salem 
Burst, storm-like o'er their head. 



THE RALLY OF THE FARMERS. 6j 

Full night had known its fullest, 
Ere all their fears were stilled ; 

Full nine score badly wounded, 
And more than threescore killed. 

Nor, till they touched the river, 

Beyond the fleet had passed, 
Our eyes that watched the danger 

Were once behind us cast. 

And then, alas to view it ! 

Hot, bitter tears we shed ; 
Full thirty found we wounded, 

And well nigh sixty dead. 

Our wives had lost their husbands ; 

Our mothers lost their boys ; 
The sun in blood that evening, 

Had set on all their joys. 

Yet, when we clasped those corpses, 

As over Huns of old, 
It seemed the skies were filling 

With souls for ours enrolled. 



68 COLONY BALLADS. 

Our prayers when all were buried, 
Were vows to Heaven that led, 

From hearts that hailed the glory 
Of passing toward their dead. 

With that we held our weapons ; 

Had foiled the British aims ; 
We held our homes : — the women 

Had quenched the Court-house flames. 

Our men had fought the army ; 

Were soldiers made the hour 
The crude, provincial farmer 

Had proved and knew his power. 

And so, despite the anguish 
That filled the morrow's morn, 

The voice that wept betokened 
A nation, newly born. 

" And I," said Samuel Adams, 

" Thank God this day to see ! " 

" And I," came back from Hancock, 
" It makes the new world free ! " 



ETHAN ALLEN. 

Ticonderoga, May io, 1775. 

When rang the bell at Lexington 

Our men had flown to arms ; 
And women now, for miles around, 

Were all who ploughed the farms. 

All Boston seemed, where Red-coats shrank, 

A foiled and wounded prey ; 
Yet one, fresh draughts of blood drank in 

From fleets that filled the bay. 

And soon, like words men breathe at night 
Near foes who plot their death, 

The whisper wild was urged along 
Our pale wives' haunted breath. 



JO COLONY BALLADS. 

That, while like mighty mushrooms grew 
Their earthworks night by night, 

By day our threatened men could find 
No arms with which to fight. 

The story awed Connecticut, 

And our Assembly there ; 
And Mott and Phelps arose and swore 

To make the want their care. 

They passed to Pittsfield; there were joined 

By Easton, Brown, and more ; 
Then on to Bennington, and there 

Could muster full two score. 

A feeble force to brave a fort 
Where each yard yawned a gun ; 

Yet those who slight the light of stars 
But seldom see their sun. 

The sun that dawned before them here, 
That doubt could scarce survive, 

Was Ethan Allen's sword that flashed 
To make Vermont alive. 



ETHAN ALLEN. J I 

As thick as rills that rift in Spring 

Each bond the sun destroys, 
Came pouring over all those hills 

His grand Green Mountain Boys, 

Two hundred hardy men, as brave 

As ever mountains reared. 
Fought famine, frost, arid bears at home, 

And naught beyond it feared. 

Ere long, a shout the vale rang out; 

Then " Onward ! " called the voice 
Of Allen, named to lead the lines, 

Who all had hailed the choice. 

But one who heard his charger spurred, 

And cried, as came he near, 
" Nay, nay, in me your leader see, 

For Cambridge sent me here." 

" And Cambridge, Cambridge, what has she," 
Cried Mott and Phelps, "to say? 
Our Hartford sent us forth, and we 
Bade Allen lead the way." 



72 COLONY BALLADS. 

"And we," cried those Vermonters true, 
" We came with Allen here : 
And all agree none brave as he 
To lead the mountaineer." 

The other hushed to hear them cry; 

And honor high to all : 
They faced the traitor Arnold thus, 

Who thus began his fall. 

And honor due to Allen too ; 
* High compliment, I trow ! — 
Where good and guile were joined awhile 
The former found a foe. 

Three days they tramped, then Allen spake 

" We split in parties three ; 
One north, one south, one onward straight 

To seek the lake with me. 

"From north and south, our comrades fleet, 
They forward all that floats, 
To make for Shoreham where we wait 
To cross when come the boats. 



ETHAN ALLEN. 73 

" Now fall in line, and follow close 
Behind the lantern's glare, 
Beyond, Ticonderoga dawns ; 
At morn, we breakfast there.*'' 

Then, down the hunter's trail, our line 

Wound on as glides a snake, 
Then, late at night, prepared to- spring 

Lay coiled beside the lake. 

"Now off," said Allen, "North and South, 
And list for sound of oar," 
Alas, to think that Heaven above 
Should favor man no more ! 

To north and south we scattered far, 

We listened o'er and o'er, 
But not a sound, to north or south, 

The empty breezes bore. 

A few could find the boats to cross, 

Alas, but all too few ! 
Night sped, and Allen, near the fort 

Could count but eighty-two. 
4 



74 COLONY BALLADS. 

" My men," he muttered, " look — the light, — 
Before can cross the lake 
One boat again for other men, 
The morning full shall break. 

"Yet note the wall. — You know it well, — 
Ten times our force, if seen, 
Though clad in mail, could never scale 
Those cannon thick between. 

"And here the boats. — What say you all? 
Your guns lift up, no breath. 
The lake cross here ? — or weapons there ? 
Face cowardice ? — or death ? 

" Your guns all up ? your hearts all true ? 
How well ! Had one turned back, 
Yon mountains heaped not rocks enough 
To hide his skulking track. 

""He easier might have faced, at home, 
Where snow-capped hills all flame, 
The sun ! than wives and little ones 
Whose cheeks were fired with shame. 



ETHAN ALLEN. 75 

" How oft, without a roof for these, 
Your grants of land all spurned, 
With no more gold to buy when sold 
The homes you once had earned ; 

" How oft, when all was torn from you, 

And all had urged in vain 

Your chartered rights, the common law, 

And all that God makes plain ; 

" How oft then have you prayed aloud 
That Heaven would send you down 
A chance from off your country's brow 
To hurl the hated crown ! 

" That chance has come ! But once for all 
Can dawn a day like this. 
And all the glory meant for life 
Keeps midnight if one miss ; 

"But if he win — ah yonder sun 
Sheds not a splendor fit 
With which to rise above his name 
Or earth that welcomes it! 



J 6 COLONY BALLADS. 

" Yes earth ! For they forgot, our lords, 
They dealt with Puritans, 
True sons of those whom Cromwell led, 
Whose right means every man's; 

" Who take their individual ills 
For proofs of general pain ; 
And where one prince has made them wince 
Strike all, that man may reign. 

a And they forgot, we mountaineers, 
High rangers like the Swiss, 
Had learned to value freedom's world 
By looking down on this ! 

"And longed to prove it! Aye, my men, 
To-day you show with me 
How freemen, forced for self to care, 
Crown self, and keep it free 

" Now quick, but quiet — Start with steel. 
Nor fire till sure you hit. 
First through the gate, if through we may. 
If not, then over it. 






- ETHAN ALLEN. JJ 

"I lead. You follow. Should I fall, 
Move on, my corpse may give 
At least a vantage ground J Move up. 
The cause, it is, must live ! " 

Then Allen left, and leapt behind 

First Arnold, rivaling still ; 
Then Brown and Easton, all the line 

Stole softly up the hill. 

The startled sentry aimed his gun 

Straight out at Allen's face; 
But Allen flew, as flashed the flint, 

To dash it from its place. 

The sentry dodged, and darted down 

A passage through the mound. 
In poured our men ; you might have thought 

The sentry had been drowned. 

Swift, one by one, by Allen led, 
They plunged along the gloom ; t 

No thought of scores that, just beyond, 
Might make the place their tomb. 



78 COLONY BALLADS. 

On ran the sentry; on our men, — 

Their mountains gave no game, 
Nor guide so swift to apprehend 

The grounds on which they came. 

At last, uploomed in dusky light, 

Close choking all the way, 
One armed with ball and bayonet 

To hold the whole at bay. 

" Take heed ! " he cried. " We take it, man," 
Went back where Allen sped ; 
Then clashed his sword that glanced the gun 
To cleave the crouching head. 

" Have mercy," groaned the wounded wretch. 
Cried Allen, " Down your gun ! 
Hist, hist, my men, within the fort ! 
And now the barrack, run ! " 

No need to bid. A moment more, 
Our boys had crowned their race ; 

And closed, with shouts like thousands, round 
The soldiers' sleeping place. 






ETHAN ALLEN. 79 

Meantime, " The captain ! " Allen cried ; 

And scarce the word had said, 
Ere on a door was pounding loud 

To rouse his foe from bed. 

It opened partly, where behold ! 

In robes as white as fleece, 
The chief, beside his blushing bride, 

A picture stood of peace. 

" Surrender ! " ordered Allen then, 
"If not, by Him on high, 
Your garrison, my men beset — 
Nor hope for quarter, — die ! " 

The captain's anger now had burst 
The spell of night's repose. 
" Surrender ! " hissed he — then turned pale 
To hear those shouts that rose — 

"And what, I beg to know, and who 
Are all your rebel crew ? 
iVnd whose the name in which you come 
And bid to yield to you ? " 



80 COLONY BALLADS. 

"Of God Jehovah?" Allen cried, 

" And " — while his sword flashed high — 
"The Continental Congress, man ! " 

And now had flashed his eye. 

It flashed to vent the conscious force 

Of him who fights for man, 
The power that burns to sweep from earth 

Each prince or partisan. 

And Congress then, as Congress aye, 

The child 'of God to shield — 
Jehovah in the man at least — 

It forced the foe to yield. 

The day was won \ the garrison 

Filed out across the green. 
More general welcome where they came, 

I ween was seldom seen. 

Not one who bore a cumbering gun 

Or lugged a lazy sword, 
But some one, all politely bent, 

To lend his aid implored. 



ETHAN ALLEN. 8 1 

Alack, we stacked our shoulders full, 

Relieved of all their care ; 
Then, Arab-like, good will we proved 

By taking breakfast there. 

For days we never turned aside 

Our gazes amorous, 
Till, like a bride to watch with pride, 

Went each one home with us. 

And then the fort — ah me, to see 

The trouble rare it took 
To clear the space, and give the place 

A less unfriendly look ! 

Ten score of cannon, hills of flint, 

And tons of guns and balls — 
We waited weeks, to find the rrueans 

To cart them out the walls. 

But first, we mailed a message home • 

And I have heard it said, 
When Congress heard, the floor was wet 

With tears those men had shed. 
4* 



82 COLONY BALLADS. 

At Cambridge, at the news, the air 

With such a shout was rent. 
It almost* equaled there the roar 

Of guns our fort had sent. 

And Allen? — Allen lived and thrived, 

The chief of all that tract, 
Where fleets and forts and all gave way 

When bold our boys attacked. 

But war has tricks; and life has turns; 

Misfortunes find the true ; 
And Allen once, across the sea, 

Was borne a prisoner too. 

Yet heroes' homes are human hearts. 

There, English crowds would cling 
About the form of him they felt 

Was grand, beyond their king. 

He came back home and church bells rang 
You might, in truth, have thought 

A second Christmas day had come, 
And , Saviour's advent brought ! — 



ETHAN ALLEN, 83 

And guns were fired ; and, rank on rank, 

His State made haste to call 
This bravest soul of all her sons, 

The General there of all. 

And all the people while he lived, 

They loved that eagle eye ; 
And when he died — ah friends, you know, 

Such spirits cannot die. 

To-day, go search those mountains green, 

Those valleys, humbly trod 
By souls whose simple faith is firm 

To country, home, and God ; 

Ask men who own those towering trees, 

Or plant those hillocks steep, 
The school boys, bounding back from school, 

Or watching well the sheep ; 

The housewives, where in thrifty homes 

The generous meal is spread; 
The sisters, softly handing down 

The Book when prayers are said ; 



84 COLONY BALLADS. 

Ask all, who value aught they own, 

Whose fame all value most? 
The flushing cheek and flashing eye 

Will figure him they boast. 

Nay more, to-day, in any State 
Our whole broad land throughout, 

If aught to forward waits so weak 
No hand dare aid its doubt; 

If fashion's forces bind the soul 

So conscience hardly breathes, 
Where love is fettered, truth is hushed, 

And right her sabre sheathes ; 

If all the crowd below are cowed 
Because some power that deigns, 

Each fortress holds that aids defense, 
And arm that each retains ; 

And yet, if dreams of braver life 

That always bless the true, 
Rouse those whose foes swarm thick, at morn, 

As clouds to trembling dew; 



ETHAN ALLEN. 85 

Then would you fire these on, like powers 

That, lightning-shod, flash nigh, 
And crush to storms each cloud that forms 

Where heaven would cleanse the sky : — 

Wherever faith should conflict face, 

And wrong compliance shun \ 
Just name the name of Allen there — 

The strife, you find, begun. 



HOW BARTON TOOK THE GENERAL. 

Narragansett Bay, July io, 1777. 

" Their wrongs are due to Prescott," 

Brave William Barton said ; 
" He made them wear his colors there, 

Though blood should dye them red. 

" Blame not the line \ the leader 
Has rilled the town with fear. 
No heel more base could Britain place 
To foul her footstool here ! " 

" Say footpath here," said Potter \ 
"Just now their doorsteps go 
To pave the way where, once a day, 
His lordship walks, you know. 



HOW BARTON TOOK THE GENERAL, 87 

" Then meets he three together, 
Or one who wears his cap, 
He ' Rebel ! ' calls ; their heads are balls ; 
His cane a club to rap." 

" Small vengeance ! " answered Barton ; 
"Yet wrinkles show the will. 
A grazing ass that kicks but grass 
Has tricks that yet may kill. 

"The Friends lift hats to no one, 
Is that in them remiss? 
Yet one in town his steed rode down, 
And he imprisoned for this. 

" Then Trip — none knew the reason — 
One day to jail was sent. 
Whereat, in grief that sought relief, 
His wife to see him went. 

" She heard but, ' No ; nor write him 
Till hangmen execute ! ' — 
Who domineers o'er woman's tears 
Is less a man than brute ! 



\ COLONY BALLADS. 

" For one, with guns to follow 
And force a way, I swear 
To trap the wretch, and hither fetch, 
Or die beside him there. " 

" Sure death, sure death ! " was muttered. 
"The troops fill every road. 
If one could fly then one could try, 
But where another mode ? " 

" He quarters yet," said Barton, 
"At Quaker Overton's. 
The house you know • the land is low ; 
The bay behind it runs. 

" The fields are full of soldiers ; 
No hope to reach him thus. 
His fleet, they say, fill half the bay ; 
Yet half that leaves for us. 

" Three frigates guard his quarters. 

What then ? — when clouds are hung 
From starry heights to vail the lights 
Not there for evil swung ; 



-:: i" i breakers 
Ther. 5 :::. ::k u. rueu :ir 
And heaven to keep, I dare to creep 

I e: " :::: :he fee: :: sk:re." 

His ::~::.;ies husked :: beei hiru 
Then gave their hands and swore, 
:k heaven to keep, that they would creep 

Ze:~ee:: ±e zee: :: sh:re. 

The night was dark and lo 

■ is • :.i irri ~ iue 
Each patient oar they bent before 
like velvet stroked the tide. 

Abrve. :kr:u^k Eru'ish bulwarks. 

Came sounds of English feet. 
Above, " All r s well ! " rang out to tell 

How full the hostile fleet. 

They pulled to pass a guard-boat, 

To land, pour out, divide: 
To file about, the prey to scout 

And trap c: side. 



go COLONY BALLADS. 

Each party prowled in danger ; 

Crept softly toward and round 
A sentry near a guard-house here, 

And there a camping ground. 

At last, the net was ready, 

Was held at every side, 
Brave Barton sly the front door nigh 

Had found it open wide. 

" Who comes ? " there called a sentry. 
" Your countersign ? " he asked. 
" Have none to-night " — the tone was light - 
" Have here deserters passed ? " 

" Ah, from the fleet ? " was answered. 
" Yes," Barton hissed, "from one!" 
And, quick as dashed a tiger lashed, 
, Had clutched his throat and gun. 

The sentry cowed and gave it ; 

Lay gunless, gagged and bound. 
Our men, at last, the door had passed, 

Nor yet had roused a sound. 



HOW BARTON TOOK THE GENERAL. 9 1 

The Quaker host sat reading. 

" For what come you ? " he said ; 
Then, when he heard " For Prescott," stirred 

To point them overhead. 

As soft as cats, the captors 

Stole up each tell-tale stair, 
And crossed a floor, — was locked a door 

Nor time, nor sound to spare. 

Then Sisson, one of thousands, 

A burly, patriot black, 
Bent down ; took aim with head and frame. — 

One butt — the door flew back ! 

The shock their prey had started. 

He sprang in haste from bed. 
He clutched to hold his watch of gold 

That hung beside his head. 

"And darkness take you robbers 

From sword," he cried, " and shot ! " — 

" No robber harms ; put by those arms," 
He heard, nor left the spot. 



92 COLONY BALLADS. 

"You, general, stand a captive. 
And see — these daggers three. 
You breathe a word, you make us heard, 
That breath your last shall be. 

" Move on!" — "I dress," said Prescott. 

But Barton bowed polite ; 
" Nay, nay, not so ; we came, you know, 

Without our wives to-night.- 

" Your hands bear all you carry. 
Like pitch the night, and hot. 
Your last resort. — The time is short, 
Thank God you lie not shot." 

Down stairs, they marched the captive, 
But hark ! — the neighboring room ! — 

A window crashed ! — Out Barton dashed, 
Peered anxious past the gloom. 

All well ! — The noise was . over ; 

Another captive bound ; 
The general's aid a prisoner made 

Just where his feet found ground. 



HOW BARTOX TOOK THE GEXERAL. 93 

Then general, aid. and sentry, 

A sword at every head, 
Their captors wound the camp around, 

Like needles there and thread. 

At last, they reached the water \ 

At last, were off to glide 
With muffled oar between the shore 

And boats that watched beside. 

Above, through English bulwarks, 

Came sounds of English feet. 
Above, i; All 's well " rang out to tell 

How fooled the hostile fleet. 

Anon, their stroke was bolder : 

For Warwick Point they bore. 
A coach and pair were there to bear 

Their captive far on shore. 

Then Prescott broke the silence : — 
,( The push was boldly planned.''' 

Said Barton, ''Yes, and with success ;" 
And took his reins in hand. 



94 COLONY BALLADS. 

Success it was for Newport. 

The foe knew all it meant; 
The prison door they closed no more 

To bar our innocent. 

Success it was for Barton. 

In days like those of old 
No envy rife, nor party strife, 

Would slur a deed so bold. 

Through all the homes in Newport, 
Through all our camps afar, 

His name was rung, his praise was sung, 
As victory's morning star. 

Where dawned that day of freedom 
The man whose light so shone, 

So blest his land, appeared more grand 
Because he rose alone. 

Ere long, a grateful Congress 
Sent one that for him brought 

A sword, with rare inscriptions there 
To treasure all they thought. 



HOW BARTON TOOK THE GENERAL. 95 

In green Vermont they gave him 

A generous grant of land ; 
They felt this one enough had done 

On soil, his own, to stand. 

But wjiat of all was fittest, 

Was cheered in every tent, 
Were words that raised the one we praised 

To lead our regiment. 

Where weak and few the forces 

Our land could call its own, 
We knew this man would hold the van 

And fight, though left alone. 



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